In Mourning
by Maeve22
Summary: Ron and Hermione deal with Harry's death and subsequent grief together. Slight RHr
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: characters and whatnot are so not mine....after alot of alcohol I managed to come to terms with it. They're J.K. Rowling's. Which is okay, I suppose, cause she's much more talented than I am.

This is a little bit of stuff I threw together when I wasn't able to sleep...Yea, insomnia!

So, here you go....you'll enjoy it if you know what's good for you!...hee hee...joking

He had given one speech such as this three years ago. The black drapes had hung from the ceiling then, as they did now. The hall was again unusually, and disconcertingly quiet, filled with the solemn faces of hundreds of students looking to him for guidance and comfort. It had, Dumbledore thought guiltily, been almost easier the last time, when it had been Cedric Diggory they were mourning. He had become too attached to the boy over the years. He grew too concerned for his welfare, knowing the boy's fate as he did, as he always had.  
  
He stood, walking to the little podium he had stood at, at the beginning of the year all those months ago, when he was still filled with a sense of anxiety for the coming year, but hope also, knowing there was still a chance that Harry could win. Harry could defeat Voldemort, fulfill his destiny and finally, after years of pain and loneliness and fear, lead a normal life. A happy life.  
  
"We join together during this painful time," Dumbledore heard himself saying, "to remember Harry Potter..." Dumbledore's voice drifted at the last word, remembering Harry's last moment. He had been there, unable to interfere with destiny; prevented from saving him. "Harry gave his life that we may live, in freedom, in a world without fear. That our future may be bright and full of promise, even if his is not." A soft sob was heard from the Gryffindor table. He watched as Hermione Granger stood quietly and walked towards the exit. He saw Ron Weasley follow her shortly after.

It was too much, Hermione thought. Tears were pouring down her face, as they had rather regularly since she had heard the news two days ago. She wasn't with him when it happened, and that thought haunted her. She might have been able to stop it if she had been there. She at least could have been with him when he died. Given him comfort. Although, Dumbledore had said it had been quick. He hadn't felt any pain, he told her, the curse had acted quickly. He had fought bravely, and triumphed, but was ultimately a martyr for the cause.  
  
Harry had long ago come to terms with his fate. He had accepted the prophecy, and was determined to face his future head on. He had confided this in his two best friends the summer before their last year, seemingly knowing the dangers he would face in the coming year. He had lost too many to Voldemort already, too many people had died at the hands of the crazed murderer, and he was determined to protect those he loved. Voldemort's long reign of terror was going to end, he told them, and they were going to dance on his grave.  
  
Hermione burst into a new set of tears as she walked outside the main doors, angrily wiping them away on her sleeve, desperate for the fresh air and open spaces. She felt confined, like she couldn't breathe. Harry was never going to see the grounds of Hogwarts again. Never walk the paths with her and Ron, or study under the tree by the lake they had discovered during their first year. He wasn't going to be at the graduation ceremony the next day, nor go on to Auror training like he had planned. He wouldn't be there to step into the real world with them, or watch and celebrate with Ron and Hermione as they each grew successful.  
  
He...wouldn't be there for Ginny, she thought with a pang in her chest. Ginny was taking the news horribly, but was hiding it well. She preferred to suffer alone, not wanting to be a bother to Ron or Hermione, knowing they were suffering just as much. Hermione knew Ginny didn't want the attention, and felt her brother and his friend were more deserving...she had only started going out with Harry that year, after all, but Hermione knew the truth. She loved him, as he did her, which had grown fairly apparent over the course of the year. Harry had even told Ron in confidence, risking hexes by the overprotective brother, that he had fallen in love with Ginny, and that a future with her was giving him hope and courage to face the trials he knew were coming. Hermione felt herself grin at this, and made a mental note to talk to Ginny later.  
  
Hermione looked up and discovered that she had walked herself down to the lake. Looking out over the dark waters she found herself thinking back to the tournament that had happened during their fourth year, and the second task. Harry had stayed down under the lake ensuring everyone was safe. He was terrified someone would be hurt, and ever the hero, interfered to make sure everyone made it to the surface to his own detriment. Hermione smiled, but again, felt new tracks of salt water making their way down her face.

"Hermione?"

She turned to find Ron standing there, his hands in his pockets, looking at her.

She could only muster a sniffle in response.

So, that's it...It's obviously not done....hopefully there is more coming... Thanks for stopping by!


	2. Carpe Diem

Disclaimer: Consider the following disclaimed.  
  
A warm breeze blew through the air, ruffling her bushy hair, and drying her tear-streaked cheeks. As she turned to look at him, Ron stepped out of the shadows created by the trees on the lake's bank. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets bashfully, as he had been watching her for some time without her knowledge and was feeling rather guilty. She had been crying, he noted. Her puffy eyes were a clear indication of that, and he didn't have to ask why. His best friend in the whole world was gone, and he wasn't coming back.

The battle had raged throughout the wizarding world, slowly leaking into muggle areas, distracting the Order and Ministry from their original mission. Voldemort made sure they were spread thin, using the majority of their time casting memory charms so as to not alarm the muggles and prevent widespread panic they could not control. This enabled Voldemort's Death Eaters to easily locate and corner busy, stressed wizards. This was how their ranks were thinned. This was how they lost many good people. It was how Remus Lupin died.

Lupin had been helping Tonks clean up after an attack in a busy London mall. Members of the Order had paired off after they had won and captured several of the Death Eaters. While they had tried to blend into the background, casting mass memory charms quietly and as inconspicuously as they could, they were again attacked by what appeared to be backups. It had all been a ploy. They had been led into a false sense of security, and they paid dearly for it. Tonks was still in St. Mungo's, and it was unlikely she would ever wake up, and Lupin...

Lupin's death had been the last straw for Harry. He had suffered the loss of his godfather two years previous, and now he had lost a close friend. A man who had become like a father to him, and had supported him whole- heartedly through the last few years. After their mutual loss of Sirius, Harry had turned to Lupin for comfort and strength. Lupin, in turn, took to training Harry further during the summers, increasing his knowledge of spells and improving their strength, with special permission from the Ministry. During their extra time together, they grew close, and he was the only adult to whom he ever spoke of his fears and hopes.

Ron shook out of his trance as he heard Hermione softly call his name to get his attention. Looking back at her, his heart broke. It was just he two of them now. There was no future with Harry. They wouldn't wake up early on a Saturday and head outside for a quick game of one-on-one quidditch. The three of them wouldn't all move to London together like they had planned, while Harry trained to be an Auror, Hermione worked for the Ministry in an endeavour to promote SPEW and he...probably ended up working at his brothers' joke shop for all he knew.

She stepped tentatively toward him, reaching out a hand and softly grasped his. He looked down at their conjoined hands and was surprised to see a drop fall, landing gently on her palm. Reaching up with his free hand he touched his face. It was wet. Since Harry had...since it had happened, he hadn't shed a tear. Looking back, Ron realized he had been in denial. He had still been clinging to the hope that everyone had gotten it wrong. Harry wasn't dead; he was just late showing up. Everyone would see. He would walk into the Great Hall or the common room at any minute with that huge grin and once again he would get all the attention. And for once, Ron wouldn't care.

Hermione sighed softly, and gently wiped his tears with her free hand and let it linger on his cheek. She looked into his swimming brown eyes that, she knew, mirrored her own pain.

"Hermione..." Ron breathed, and releasing her hand, pulled her into a tight hug, his arms wrapping around her waist so she was fully pressed against him. He turned his head into her hair and breathed deeply, her smell comforting. It was something he knew, something that was real, and, he thought with inappropriate amusement, not completely unpleasant.

"I miss him, Hermione." He whispered softly into her hair, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Yeah," she replied simply tightening her hold around his neck.

The warm June breeze blew around them, rustling the trees as they stood in silence, reveling in the closeness of the other. Hermione slowly drew away, and Ron acknowledged the familiar reluctance of letting her.

"We should probably get back," Hermione whispered, her gaze wandering back up towards the castle.

"Probably..."

"We could always just stay out here, for a little while, though. Just for a while." Ron heard the slight pleading in her voice, and agreed; he wasn't really in the mood to face anyone else either. Every time he caught the eye of one of his classmates, they would instantly be filled with sympathy and pity, and it was hardly comforting. He needed the presence of someone who really knew what he was going through, and right now, the only people whose pain was even comparable to his own were Hermione and Ginny.

He winced slightly at the thought of his sister. He hadn't spoken to her at all in the last few days, and felt a real prat about it. He just couldn't face her. How could he comfort her, when he was falling apart himself? It was selfish, he knew, but it wasn't just that he didn't want to have to deal with her grief. Ron had no idea what to even say to his sister. How could he possibly be of any consolation? Their situations were so different. Harry had been Ron's best friend, while to Ginny he had been the love of her life.

He tugged Hermione's hand as he led them to a nearby log and sat down. She positioned herself close beside him, and they sat in silence, with only the sound of Hermione's sniffles and the lake lapping at the shore. Ron put his arm around her, and she sank into his warmth. It was funny, he thought, with no humor at all, that it had taken this tragedy for Ron to wake up. Maybe he really was the great unobservant git everyone always teased him for being. Never before would he have been able to put his arm around her without blushing furiously while simultaneously trying to shut out the million panicky thoughts in his head of how she could shoot him down. He lightly kissed the top of her head, and felt her stiffen, which unfortunately did get the blood flowing to his face again. However, she didn't say anything, and he noticed, was quick to relax back into him.

He had planned to do it in a more romantic setting. Maybe with candles, and flowers. He had been told that girls liked that sort of thing. In fact, he hadn't really intended to just jump right to it, either. Beat around the bush a little, and maybe ask her out first. And he had no idea how she felt about him, even though he had been assured by his sister that she felt the same, which made for another example of his infamous ability to be completely unperceptive. However, sitting here with her, he suddenly felt like he had to say it and get it off his chest, regardless. Isn't that what unexpected deaths were supposed to teach you? _Carpe Diem_ and all that?

"..Mione?" He mumbled, nervously.

"Hmm?"

Ron paused, gathering his nerves, while she waited patiently for what she knew was coming. She smiled faintly; she wasn't half so thick as him.

"I love you."

She pulled slightly away from him, which threw him into a quiet panic. This wasn't the reaction he had been hoping for. It was, in fact, quite the opposite. Maybe he should have expected it? Why did he have to rush it? What was wrong with him? Why did he have to be so bloody daft?

His roaring thoughts were quieted immediately when she slowly leaned towards him and placed a soft, gentle kiss on his mouth. Her lips were salty from crying, but, he noted, tasted like strawberries too. Rather cliché, he thought wryly, but somehow, in spite of that, it was so perfectly Hermione.

She drew back smiling lightly, and stood up, extending her hand for his. He took it and began to follow her back to the castle leaving him confused about where this left him with Hermione, but having the faintest idea that it was somewhere good. As they reached the castle doors, Ron was wrenched from his pleasant thoughts and was once again faced with the unfair reality that was awaiting him. He knew he wouldn't get any sleep just like the night before and the night before that, and would instead pass the time tossing and turning in an effort to get comfortable.

However, looking over at the girl walking beside him, he silently made plans to maybe use that time wisely and go speak to Ginny after all.


End file.
